From _Elivagar_[34] Spurted drops of poison Which grew into a Jötun; Thence are our kin All sprung; Hence they are always too hideous. _Odin._ Tell me ... How that strong Jötun Begat children As he had not beheld a _gyg_?[35] _Vafthrudnir._ In the armpit Of the Hrim-thursar, it is said, Grew a maiden and a son; Foot begat with foot Of that wise Jötun A six-headed son. _Odin._ Tell me ... What thou earliest rememberest, Or knowest farthest back; Thou art an all-wise Jötun. _Vafthrudnir._ Numberless winters Ere the earth was shaped Was Bergelmir born; The first I remember Is when that wise Jötun Was laid in the flour-bin.[36] In due course Ymir was slain by Odin, Vili, and Ve, the three sons of Bör, who was himself a Jötun, and therefore of the same kin as Ymir. Having slain Ymir, the sons of Bör proceeded to make the earth out of his body, and to give the sun, moon, and stars their places in heaven. The flow of his blood was so great as to cause a deluge. Bergelmir was the only one of the Hrim-Thursar who escaped in a boat with his wife, and from him came a new race of Hrim-Thursar. “The sons of Bör slew the Jötun Ymir, but when he fell there flowed so much blood from his wounds that it drowned the whole race of the Hrim-Thursar, except one who escaped with his household. Him the Jötnar called Bergelmir; he and his wife went on board his ark, and thus saved themselves; from them are descended a new race of Hrim-Thursar” (Later Edda). After the destruction of the earlier Hrim-Thursar we hear how the sons of Bör created the world, and we are told how the earth and the heavens were made from Ymir. From Ymir’s flesh The earth was shaped, And from his blood the sea; The mountains from his bones; From his hair the trees, And the heaven from his skull. But from his brows The mild gods made Midgard for the sons of men; And from his brain Were all the gloomy Clouds created. (Grimnismal.)